LEEDS, United Kingdom: Rafael Benitez has targeted his first piece of silverware with Chelsea after they routed Leeds 5-1 to book a League Cup semifinal clash with Swansea.Chelsea interim manager Benitez is desperate to lift the League Cup as he tries to stake a claim to take the job on a permanent basis, but the Spaniard also warned his side they face a tough task to make the Wembley final.The Blues shook off the effects of jet lag to seal their place in the last four with a stunning five-goal second-half blitz to blow away their Championship hosts in the quarterfinals at Elland Road on Wednesday night.Benitez’s men will host fellow Premier League side Swansea in the semifinal first-leg in early January, and the former Liverpool boss insists they will have to be at their best to progress.“Any semifinal of a major competition is going to be difficult,” he said.“We know we’re up against a team who try to play football, who try to play football on the floor and keep the ball.“They’re doing well right now so it will be an interesting tie. The motivation is there for both teams to go through.” Benitez is fighting to win over Chelsea supporters who continue to voice their opposition to the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo — and the choice of the former Liverpool manager to replace the departed Italian.In the circumstances any trophy, even the often ridiculed League Cup, would be a significant boost to Benitez.“To win trophies is important for any manager, we’re a game closer to the final at Wembley, so we’ll concentrate on that game when it comes,” Benitez said.“We take every competition we’re in seriously and we’re a step nearer to the final.Chelsea took the first half to overcome the effects of their grueling 13-hour return flight from the Club World Cup in Japan, falling behind to Luciano Becchio’s 15th goal of the season.But they stormed back with goals from Juan Mata, Branislav Ivanovic, Victor Moses, Eden Harzard and Fernando Torres’ 13th goal of the campaign to win with something to spare.The stirring comeback was sparked by a half-time pep-talk between the players, and skipper Frank Lampard said: “We had a word with ourselves at half-time and upped it because in the first half we weren’t at our best. Lampard refused to use jet-lag as an excuse for Chelsea’s sluggish start as they returned to action just 48 hours after landing back in the country.

“We didn’t make the greatest preparation but there’s no excuse, we had to up it,” he added.“The early goal after the re-start gave us the impetus, we believed from then on and we didn’t think we could lose the game.“Some of the football we played, we opened them up and showed what we could do.” Meanwhile Neil Warnock paid tribute to his Leeds players, insisting the final score was harsh on them.More than 36,000 fans braved a rain swept night to roar on their team and the Leeds manager said: “The score line doesn’t reflect the game, but I’ve no complaints and we can take plenty of positives. It was a great occasion.”

What's happening around Saudi Arabia

ALKHOBAR: A power failure at the King Fahd Causeway on Wednesday night resulted in a massive traffic congestion, even as officials failed to explain the cause of the snag, local media reported.A power outage for 74 minutes on the link between the Kin...

JEDDAH: A female Saudi lawyer was able to get a stay order on a ruling by the general court in Jeddah that awarded custody of a two-year-old girl to her father. She successfully argued to get the court order reversed that gave custody back to the mot...

JEDDAH: The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) said that combating harassment cases is part of its responsibility to promote Islamic values and morals in society.“Those harassing women will be brought to book,” s...

JEDDAH: More than 26 million Umrah pilgrims and worshippers visited the Grand Mosque during the month of Ramadan and in the first few days after Eid Al-Fitr, thanks to a smooth transport arrangement under the guidance of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-...

AL-AHSA: An outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) has been discovered in cattle in Al-Ahsa which is an area with many cows. All necessary measures have been taken to protect the livestock, said Mahmoud Al-Shuaibi of the Agriculture Department in Al-Ah...

RIYADH: An architectural masterpiece — the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center (KAHC) — in Riyadh is a huge complex dedicated solely to collecting, preserving, promoting and showcasing the history and heritage of Saudi Arabia. The KAHC is a three milli...

RIYADH: The Saudi Blind Society (Kafif) has made all preparations for the three-day workshop for the blind to be held here next week and attended by delegates from various Asian countries.Mohammed bin Suleiman Al-Shuwaiman, Kafif director general, th...

JEDDAH: The number of Saudis who took early retirement schemes last year stood at 38,647, the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) has said. The Eastern Provinces got the lion's share of disbursements for retirees, amounting to SR3.8 bill...

JEDDAH: Meat and poultry topped the list of food items seized by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) at the border crossings for violating the health standards in the last two months.Approximately 267,137 kg of unfit meat and poultry were reject...

JEDDAH: Many sponsors and workers of small companies are struggling to get a comparatively cheaper health cover for renewal of iqama (residential permit) as the insurance companies have stopped issuing the same.The passport department has made it com...

RIYADH: Police have detained 11 Indonesian nationals, who arrived in the holy city of Makkah for Umrah a few days back.The Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry is working closely with the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah to assist the group of citizen...

JEDDAH: The National Committee for Bakeries at the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) said this Haj season would see no shortage in supplies of bakery items.The committee said there was need to increase operational labor by about 20 percent.It confirmed...

LONDON: Members of Osama Bin Laden’s family were among four people who died when a private jet crashed in Britain, Saudi Arabia’s embassy in London said on Saturday.The Saudi-registered plane plowed into a car auction site and burst into flames in so...

JEDDAH: Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Al Hamzi, director general of prisons, has sacked Brig. Ahmad Al Shahrani, director of Jeddah prisons, after the case of a video clip about prisoners taking heroin went viral, according to local media.Quoting informed source...